


Crossed Wires

by orpheous87



Series: Drarropoly 2019 [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Car Trouble, Drarropoly 2.0 - A Drarry Game/Fest, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, Happy Ending, M/M, Mechanic Harry Potter, Writer Draco Malfoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:27:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21662155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orpheous87/pseuds/orpheous87
Summary: Harry and Draco meet again after a few years... and keep running into each other in suspicious circumstances.Written for Drarropoly, but no specific prompt. The prompt was "You must write a fic where Harry and Draco have specific roles, occupations, or vocations. You may pick any trope or tone for the fic, but some good jumping off points are fluff, angst, crack, or established relationship."Harry is a mechanic, Draco is a writer and the trope I've gone for is getting together.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Series: Drarropoly 2019 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1548649
Comments: 4
Kudos: 56
Collections: Drarropoly 2.0 - A Drarry Game/Fest





	Crossed Wires

**Author's Note:**

> A big, big thank you to [donnarafiki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/donnarafiki/pseuds/donnarafiki) for betaing once again ❤️

“For Merlin’s sake!” 

Draco pushed the button that rolled the divider between himself and the driver down. “Exactly _what_ is the problem now?” 

“Sorry Mr Malfoy,” the driver replied. “The engine isn’t responding as it should.” 

“Well I can see that for myself,” Draco replied. “Considering we have not moved an inch despite being in the car for ten minutes! Can you fix it?” 

“Not without a mechanic,” the driver replied apologetically. “Let me just go inside and—”

“If you’re not back in five minutes, I will be forced to walk. I _cannot_ be late for this meeting,” Draco snapped. “My publisher is on a tight schedule.” 

“I’ll be as quick as I can, Mr Malfoy,” the driver said, getting out of the car and running into the building. 

Draco tutted and glared out of the window at any passersby, thankful that they couldn’t see him. 

“You’re in luck, Mr Malfoy,” the driver said, opening the door again two minutes later. “There was a free mechanic who is coming right out to take a look.” 

“I should think so,” Draco sniffed, continuing to look out of the window, though his glare had softened somewhat. Then, someone approaching the car made him scowl. 

“Okay, what seems to be the problem?” 

Harry reached the car, rolling his sleeves up. 

“Mr Malfoy has an important meeting but the car isn’t responding,” the driver said, opening the bonnet. 

“Malfoy?” Harry asked, leaning down to peer into the car. “Well… I never thought I’d see you again.” 

“Likewise, Potter,” Draco sniffed, lifting his chin. “I hope you know what you’re doing.” 

“Charming as ever, I see,” Harry replied, rolling his eyes. “I know what I’m doing, don’t worry.” 

“Good. Get on with it, then,” Draco said, looking away from Harry. _When did Potter become so good looking?_ he wondered. _And why did he look different?_

Harry shook his head and moved to look under the bonnet, wand out. He prodded at a few of the parts, muttering to himself. “Bloody Malfoy. Might be gorgeous, still a stuck-up git.” 

“What was that?” the driver asked, appearing at Harry’s side. 

“Nothing,” Harry said quickly. “Ah, here’s your problem. The brakes are sticking and stopping the engine from getting going.” 

“Easily fixed?” the driver asked, peering into the engine. 

“Yeah, it won’t take me a minute,” Harry replied. “If I can just have a bit of space?” 

“Oh, sorry,” the driver said, jumping back. 

Harry shook his head and pointed his wand at the offending brakes, muttering an incantation. He smiled with satisfaction as the engine gave a whine before roaring into life. “There you go.” 

“Ah, you’re a lifesaver!” the driver exclaimed, jumping forward again to shake Harry’s hand vigorously. “I’d never hear the end of it if I didn’t get Mr Malfoy to his appointment!” 

“No, I can imagine you wouldn’t,” Harry said, shaking his head. “Well, it should work no problem now.” 

The driver nodded again, and quickly got into the car, pulling away almost as soon as the door was closed. 

Harry watched them go, giving a half-hearted wave before turning and heading back into the building. He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he didn’t think he’d see Malfoy again. Since the git had become a best-selling author, the only time Harry had seen him was in The Daily Prophet. He didn’t hate Malfoy anymore, he knew that, but any hope of getting to know him better had been dashed the night of the Ministry Christmas ball three years ago when Harry had walked into the toilets and found him wrapped around one of the Puddlemere United players. 

Harry had turned on his heel and walked right back out of the room. _If Malfoy was into Quidditch players, then what hope did he, Harry, have?_

***

Three hours later, Draco stepped out of his publisher’s office and immediately had to reach for his umbrella as the rain had started to fall. Grumbling, he made his way around the side of the building to his car.

Upon seeing him approach, the driver jumped out to open the door for him. 

“Thank you,” Draco said brusquely as he got into the car. “Please get me home as fast you can. This weather is awful and I have editing to do.”

“Yes, Mr Malfoy,” the driver replied, getting back into the car and attempting to start the engine. Nothing happened. 

Draco pressed the button to roll the divider down again. “What are you waiting for?”

“The, er, the car won’t start Mr Malfoy,” the driver replied sheepishly. 

“Please tell me you’re joking? Potter can’t be that useless,” Draco demanded. 

“‘Fraid not, Mr Malfoy. I’ll put a call in and get a mechanic,” the driver replied with a sigh. He pressed a button on the dashboard and sat back to wait. 

Within seconds, a pop sounded and a person appeared. 

“For Merlin’s sake,” Draco muttered, catching sight of the familiar messy hair and green eyes of Harry. “You again?” he asked, rolling down the window. 

“Yep,” Harry replied cheerfully. “I must have used the temporary fix this morning, sorry. I won’t be a jiffy, you’ll soon be on your way.”

“Hmph,” Draco huffed, rolling up the window again as Harry disappeared under the bonnet and began to tinker with the engine. 

“There you go,” Harry announced a few minutes later. “Try her now.”

The driver turned the key and the car spluttered into life, sounding much healthier than before. He gave Harry a thumbs up. 

Harry grinned and saluted Draco before disappearing again with another pop. 

Draco rolled his eyes. “Can we get going now?” 

“On our way, Mr Malfoy,” the driver said, pulling away.

***

Over the next few weeks, whenever Draco attempted to use the car, he found that it wouldn’t start at first. It always ended in the driver having to call a mechanic and, of course, the mechanic always ended up being _bloody Potter_.

On what he estimated to be the fourteenth occurrence, Draco rolled the window down after Potter had fixed whatever problem there was this time. “Potter.” 

“Malfoy?” Harry questioned, wiping his hands on a rag that he’d taken from his pocket as he approached the window. 

“Get in,” Draco said, gesturing to the car. 

“What?” Harry asked, blinking. 

“Get in,” Draco repeated. “I am finished with my meetings today and I think that you and I need to have a little talk.” 

“We… do?” Harry asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice. _Has Malfoy figured out what’s really going on?_ he wondered. 

“Yes,” Draco said firmly, rolling the window back up again and signalling that the conversation was over until Harry got into the car. 

Harry frowned slightly and made his way around the car, getting into the back beside Draco. He looked around the car as he sat back against the soft leather seat. “It’s even nicer inside than it is outside.” 

“It’s just a car,” Draco shrugged. “It gets me from A to B in a much more convenient way than Floo or Apparition.” 

“Well, I never thought I’d hear you say that,” Harry said, eyeing Malfoy curiously. 

Draco shrugged again. “Times change, Potter,” he said. “Except, apparently, when it comes to you stalking me.” 

“Stalking?!” Harry exclaimed. “I’m not stalking you! I’m fixing your car!” 

“Fixing? You have a funny way of fixing it, considering it’s never _really_ fixed!” Draco responded. 

“I… well…” Harry faltered, his mind racing as he tried to come up with a plausible reason that wouldn’t get him hexed. 

“Potter… what’s really going on?” Draco asked, turning to look at Harry for the first time. 

Harry’s breath caught as he faced Draco. They hadn’t been this close to one another since the time Lucius asked Draco to identify Harry in the Manor. _Of course_ , Harry thought, _I wasn’t looking my best back then._

Draco continued to gaze at Harry, his eyes studying every inch of Harry’s face. 

“Alright,” Harry said, suppressing a sigh. “I may, or may not, be only temporarily fixing your car. That first time, I was surprised when I saw it was you in the car. But I realised that I wanted to see you again. The last time we talked was so… forced. I wanted to see if we could maybe become friends now that we’re a bit older.” 

“We could have been friends in first year if you hadn’t rejected me,” Draco muttered. 

“I can’t say I’m sorry about that,” Harry said. “Because I’m not. You were a selfish, entitled prat.”

“I suppose I can’t argue with that,” Draco replied grudgingly. “But why now?” 

“Why now?” Harry asked. “Because… when I saw you again that first time, I was reminded of something I first thought three years ago.” 

“Dare I ask what that was?” Draco asked. 

“The Ministry Christmas ball,” Harry said. “I was looking for you.” 

“I don’t remember seeing you,” Draco replied with a frown.

“Well, no, you wouldn’t,” Harry replied. “I stumbled across you in the toilet, but you were rather… preoccupied with a Quidditch player.” 

“Oh,” Draco replied softly, a faint blush covering his cheeks. “Yes… I remember that bit.” 

“Mm,” Harry hummed. “Anyway, I turned around and left. Completely. Went home.” 

“You had a tantrum?” Draco asked, raising one eyebrow. 

“It was _not_ a tantrum,” Harry insisted. “I was just… I didn’t feel like partying any more.” 

“Why?” Draco asked softly. “I mean, why did my behaviour ruin your night?” 

Harry sighed and closed his eyes briefly. “Because I was looking for you with the intention of getting you a drink.” 

“Well then why did you go home?” Draco asked, frowning in confusion. 

“Do I really need to elaborate?” Harry asked, giving Draco a helpless look. 

“Please do,” Draco replied. “I’m not sure I’ll believe it otherwise.” 

“I thought there could be something between us,” Harry said with a sigh. “I wanted to get to know you better. Then I saw you with him and thought I might be wasting my time.”

Draco bit his lip gently and shook his head. “You wouldn’t have been,” he said. “There was nothing between us—he was just a bit of fun for the night. Fun that I was only having because I didn’t know how to approach _you_. I thought you might still hate me.” 

Harry started to laugh. “Oh, Merlin… okay, so, maybe we can try again? What do you say to joining me for a drink tonight?” 

Draco broke into a wide smile. “Why, Potter, I would be delighted. As long as you promise _not_ to show up covered in oil.” 

Harry grinned.


End file.
